Thursday, December 28, 2017

The Yankees played a game June 15 in which they scored in the sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth and 10th innings. And if you think that was tough, here’s what was even tougher: They scored in all those innings and still LOST. Only four other teams have done that in the last 99 years!..

The good news for Braves infielder Johan Camargo was: He made it onto the lineup card as the starting shortstop Aug. 8. The bad news: He never did make it out to shortstop that night. He did successfully hop out ...

I couldn’t tell you off the top of my head who won the 1945 World Series, but I could tell you that a goat got kicked out of it. I couldn’t tell you who the best pitcher in baseball was in 1956, but I could tell you who threw a perfect game in that year’s World Series. I don’t remember who hit the most home runs in 1990, but I do remember that the Mariners’ No. 2 and 3 hitters—both of them named Griffey—hit back-to-back dingers one day that year. Most of us remember these things like we ...

Frederick Lieb of the New York Sun, quoted in the Washington Herald, December 28, 1917:

In the event the International League does not take the field next season Toronto may be given a brief tryout as a major league city. An effort is being made by the owners of the Toronto club to have the Washington team play a sixteen game stretch at Island Stadium, the Toronto ball park, next summer….In the event major league baseball is well received the Washington franchise will be shifted to Toronto for ...

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

A little thing like Branch Rickey’s refusal to accept a $75,000 check for one Roger [sic] Hornsby has in no way discouraged Charles Weeghman, Cub president, who returned from St. Louis yesterday after his vain effort to talk the Cardinal management out of the star infielder.
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If Hornsby cannot be obtained to help the North Side club officials build up a pennant contender, then there is still Charley Herzog, who by his lack of admiration for McGraw has ...

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

One of the interesting, though unconfirmed, rumors of the local baseball rialto is that [National League President] John K. Tener, only last week re-elected head of the National League for a one-year term, will resign within a very short time…and that Judge Kenesaw M. Landis will be asked to accept the office of acting president of the league.

Sunday, December 24, 2017

Miami businessman Jorge Mas conveyed to me this month that if his Marlins offer had been accepted, he would have had a $130 million payroll in 2018, retained Giancarlo Stanton and hired a new general manager.

Instead, the Marlins intend to have a payroll of $90 million or less – a drop from $115 million last season and much lower than the $140 million it would have taken to keep the 2017 team together.

Friday, December 22, 2017

Le Batard, who was scheduled for time off today and all of next week, opened his radio show Thursday by saying, “It might be the last show of the year, or it might just be the last show forever, because this has been unpleasant.”

He admitted that his tone was bad and that he was too emotional — he has had an emotional week since his friend and boss John Skipper resigned abruptly Monday, citing substance addiction– and ...

“Today it’s me, tomorrow may be another player more. I’m a father with two kids and a wife and if those officials shot at me again then they wonder why we leave our country — They entered my SUV and left it a mess.”

Trib: Does it bother you that much of the fan base doubts your commitment to winning?

Nutting: To the extent that it bothers me, it bothers me because of the impact on the organization. I am an extremely competitive person. I am extremely driven to see this organization succeed, and that means bringing another championship back to Pittsburgh. A pretty simple measure of success.

I know there are building blocks that we have to go through to get there. I know there are no magic switches, no ...

An agent said that one of his players, starved for contract offers, asked him if it would be worthwhile if he sent out a tweet to remind teams he is available. “It’s a simple matter of supply and demand,” one agent said. “For a lot of these guys, it’s turning into a bloodbath.”

The Diamondbacks are close to adding another late-inning option to their bullpen, agreeing to terms with Japanese right-hander Yoshihisa Hirano on what sources say is a two-year, $6 million deal.

Hirano, who turns 34 in March, has logged 143 saves for the Orix Buffaloes over the past five seasons. He owns a career 3.10 ERA in parts of 11 seasons in Nippon Professional Baseball, Japan’s top league.

Thursday, December 21, 2017

“Bowman was one of the most influential people in sports and digital media when MLB announced his departure on Nov. 6, saying he had told commissioner Rob Manfred that he would not seek to renew his contract.

Other forces were at work, people familiar with the situation say. Bowman verbally abused a coworker in October, prompting Manfred to push him out, these people say. That was preceded by a July incident in which Bowman allegedly shoved an executive with the group that owns the Boston Red ...

As a result of the recent spectacular sale of Alexander and Killifer by the Phillies and Strunk, Schang and Bush by the Athletics, it is not improbable that Philadelphia may have only one big league club next year. There is a possibility that either the National League or American League franchise of the Quaker City will be transferred to Baltimore.

Such a shift would relieve the two major leagues of the burden of fighting the pending Baltimore ...

On Wednesday night, sources confirmed to MLB.com that Alonso’s deal with the Indians will be worth $16 million and will include an $8 million vesting option for 2020. The contract is pending a physical, which is scheduled for Thursday. The club has not confirmed any agreement. Once complete, Alonso will take over at first base, where Santana played for the past few seasons before leaving via free agency this offseason.
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Overall, Alonso had a 43.2 percent fly-ball rate in ‘17, compared to ...

Wednesday, December 20, 2017

Longoria, the greatest player in franchise history, was traded Wednesday to the San Francisco Giants. For Longoria and cash considerations, the Rays are getting back INF Christian Arroyo (from Hernando), veteran OF Denard Span (from Tampa) plus Class A RHP Stephen Woods and Class A LHP Matt Krook.

It gets worse. Joel Sherman reported that the team was planning to put forth a lower payroll in 2018, perhaps around $135 million. If David Wright’s salary is a part of that calculus, that means the Mets plan to be one of the 10 lowest spenders in baseball next season. It’s easy to look at what the Marlins are doing with regard to their payroll and call it an embarrassment. What the Mets are doing is arguably worse. The franchise put out a ...

So she turned to the Negro Leagues, where she signed on with the Indianapolis Clowns in 1953 and spent three seasons racking up a 33-8 record as a pitcher while hitting .270. She became the first woman to pitch in the league.

The 110th page of baseball’s collective bargaining agreement explains why: Any team with a payroll that exceeds the designated “second surcharge threshold” will not only pay a heavy monetary fine, but will also have its top pick in the amateur draft moved back 10 places.

“Michael can speak on this. We have trust in him doing his job. He does it very well,” Jeter said. “Pitching, defense wins. This minor-league system was the worst in baseball. You can’t win like that. We need to add prospects to our organization and develop them. We added [former Yankees executive] Gary Denbo, who is the best in the business in player development.”

Tuesday, December 19, 2017

I’ve seen a few people take after Pat O’Connor for some of the quotes in this article. As much as some of their complaints have validity, I put a lion’s share of the blame for minor league pay at the feet of the players. If my memory serves, there are about 200 minor leaguers per organization. It wouldn’t take a huge sum of money per team, relatively speaking, to move minimum player salary to an acceptable level. The Players Association is in the best position to push for minor leaguers. Their ...